Korea Investment & Securities Co. said on the 15th that there is "nothing decided regarding acquiring equity in any specific company," responding to reports that it is pushing, together with global virtual asset exchange OKX, to acquire equity in domestic exchange Coinone.
On the day, Yonhap News and others reported that Korea Investment & Securities Co. and OKX are discussing a plan to each acquire about 20% equity in Coinone.
They also said that, as a specific investment method, a structure focused on issuing new shares rather than selling existing shares is likely, to maximize capital inflows. There was also analysis that Korea Investment & Securities Co.'s equity participation would largely be in the nature of a financial investment.
Looking at Coinone's equity structure, it consists of The One Group (equity ratio 34.30%), Com2uS Holdings (21.95%), CEO Cha Myeong-hun (19.14%), and Com2uS Plus (16.47%).
In response, Korea Investment & Securities Co. said it is indeed interested in the digital asset market, but that neither a specific company nor a concrete business approach has been decided yet.
A Korea Investment & Securities Co. official explained, "We are comprehensively reviewing the digital asset market in various ways," but added, "It has not been decided which specific company to choose or in what way to conduct the business."
Coinone also issued a statement on the day, saying, "We are discussing partnerships, including strategic equity investments, with multiple companies, but nothing has been finalized at present."